In June, the U.S. Dept. Of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) proposed allowing homeless shelters to deny services to transgender and gender non-conforming people. While this is no surprise coming from an administration that has repeatedly shown callous cruelty to society’s most vulnerable people, it is also deeply dangerous and inhumane to cast people out of housing in the middle of a pandemic. It is most likely illegal, too.Read More

In the United States, 4.2 million youth experience homelessness each year, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender queer and questioning (LGBTQ) youth are 120% more likely to experience homelessness than their non-LGBTQ peers. True Colors United believes that in order to develop effective policy solutions to end youth homelessness, youth with lived experience must be a part of the solution. And no organization is doing more than True Colors to bring LGBTQ youth to the table in a meaningful way. Read More

We’ve all heard of the school to prison pipeline, but there is another insidious structure feeding the prison system: foster care.  Read More

One of the most important aspects of creating transformative change is making sure that those most impacted by problems are meaningfully involved in the development and implementation of solutions.Read More

We’re excited to announce the newest member of the Raikes Foundation youth homelessness team, Paula Carvalho. Paula was the Director of Youth Programs at The Mockingbird Society, where she oversaw the organization’s statewide dual focus on youth development and systems reform.Read More

Governor Inslee and the Washington state legislature have taken an important step toward a more just and humane juvenile justice system for our state’s youth and families. Read More

New data confirms that a record-breaking number of students experienced homelessness during the 2016-17 school year. The number of students who experience homelessness each year has been steadily ticking upward for more than a decade, topping out at more than 1.3 million in 2017.Read More

This week the national campaign to address student homelessness, Education Leads Home, announced that six states—California, Kentucky, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon and Washington—have been chosen to participate in a first-of-its-kind partnership aimed improving educational outcomes for students who are experiencing homelessness.Read More

On April 1, 2019 Katie Hong will be stepping away from her role as the Raikes Foundation’s Director of Youth Homelessness and into her new role as Director of Special Initiatives.Read More

This week, our partners at Schoolhouse Washington released a comprehensive report on the academic outcomes of students experiencing homelessness in Washington state.Read More